Characters of the Cut
Alice Griffin meets Sam Keay, who packs plant power into her preserves and drinks.
IT’S easy to believe that spirits and preserves are just a delicious treat, but when created from foraged hedgerow bounty we are also tapping into the power of plants used for centuries, providing us with nutrients that our increasingly over-processed diets lack.
Sam Keay of Gangplank Spirits and Preserves knows all about this as she travels the waterways in her 55ft, 40-year-old Springer, foraging from the surrounding countryside and bringing the magic of nature to customers along the way. “I strongly believe that wild foods should form a big part of our diet as so many plants have medicinal properties, which our bodies need.”
As someone with a passion for plants too, I admire Sam’s commitment to sharing this knowledge such as the benefits of nettles, the tips of which I am currently adding to my spring soups. “Nettles were a part of the Romans’ staple diet, good for blood pressure and balancing blood sugar levels and to ease arthritis and inflammation if you urticate yourself with the sting,” she tells me.
“Hawthorn leaves and blossom, known as ‘bread and cheese’, are also good for reducing blood pressure and meadowsweet was a forerunner of aspirin, the go-to herb for indigestion, gastric ulcers, cystitis and bladder stones, which I turn into a cordial.”
Always a little nomadic and interested in low impact lifestyles, Sam found her way on to the waterways 16 years ago and loves her Springer narrowboat, which she considers are the V-Dubs of the canals. “They were a cheap and cheerful way for the masses to get on to the water and I think of mine as a lovely unpretentious workhorse.”
They were usually built from good-quality steel, which is why there are still so many around today, but Sam’s certainly stands out from the crowd with its unique exterior paintwork, created by her own hand. “My original inspiration was from seeing the shadow of the grasses and wildflowers on the side of the boat in the evening glow. They looked so lovely I just wanted to paint around them and the design has evolved from there!”
It’s certainly a look that ensures Sam is seen, which is perfect as she grows her business while exploring the network. “I wanted to create a business that would enable me to travel and make a living. I started with cake-baking and a cafe and made preserves, cordials and chutneys to use due to the abundance of fruit on the towpath.”
It wasn’t long before customers of the cafe (which she still opens when at events) asked to buy these goods and then Sam moved on to spirits for a Christmas market. “I decided I should apply for a Temporary Events Notice so I could sell mulled wine and some of the sloe gin I’d brewed. It went down so well that I started my own range and got my own premises licence so I could sell online and on the towpath.”
Sam believes her enthusiasm for foraging stems from her ‘Good Life’ upbringing. “My parents had a big allotment as a way to feed our family of five and we all helped pick, bottle, dry and freeze the produce, as well as make home-made wine, beer and damson gin.”
These lessons have made Sam passionate about using everything available and she is currently busy organising an exchange service to make sure nothing goes to waste. “I’m just working out the finer details of an effective bartering system of foraged or surplus produce in return for my goods. Last year people brought me quince, medlar, apples, sloes, rhubarb and blackberries!”
Despite their being a few downsides such as space, lack of regular customer base and pesky paperwork, Sam has managed to find her way around them all to live the life she loves. “I’m more connected to nature, have a new little adventure every day and I can embrace a lower-impact way of living while being part of a close-knit, kind, helpful and fun community.” However, like most boat-dwellers, above all Sam cites freedom as the biggest pull to life on the water: “I get a very ‘itchy tiller’ if I have to stay in one place for too long so I like being free to move on to somewhere else.”
Let’s hope somewhere else will be somewhere near you this year because, with a spiced rum and some whiskies and vodkas currently being made, I know Sam’s delicious treats – with the added benefit of plant power – will be a welcome indulgence!
Alice Griffin is a wandering writer and intermittent boat-dweller, currently on lockdown in France. www.alicegriffin.co.uk /Instagram: alice_is_in_wanderland
Facebook: GangplankGin
Instagram: GinGangplank
Email: info@gangplank.shop
Website: www.gangplank.gin
*** Look out for Sam’s current location on her website if you would like to buy produce in person. You can also buy online! ***